Ch. 3 Cont'd
The girls sat in relative silence over the next few moments. Neither wanting to say aloud what sort of trials Ginny would be facing in the very near future. Her mother would flip for damned sure… and her father… Hermione couldn't even imagine it. She looked over at her friend, who seemed to be daydreaming, and found she was rather in wonder at the implication of early motherhood. But with such a strong woman as Molly Weasley for a role model, maybe Gin would be ok? Time would tell and all that.
"There you guys are! We've been looking everywhere for you!"
Ron's voice interrupted their thoughts just as Hermione was working up the courage to say something inane like, "it'll be ok". The surreal atmosphere effectively broke, she opted instead to keep her mouth shut and smiled up at the two boys as they jogged into sight. They both seemed extremely pleased about something. Harry even skipped a little as he approached with a boyish grin.
"Hermione! You weren't in the bookshop like we thought you'd be! So, we went over to that ink shop you like, and you'll never believe who we saw there!" he stated excitedly as he took a seat next to Gin. Ron stood nearby, pivoting up and down on the balls of his feet with obvious excitement that Hermione shook her head at. She hadn't heard about anything exciting being scheduled to happen in the town today. Surely there would have been something in the Prophet?
Confused and a bit apprehensive, Hermione wracked her brain to figure out what acquaintance the two could have met which would elicit this sort of reaction from them, but she honestly couldn't think of anyone worthwhile.
"I'm stumped Harry. Who did you see?" she asked.
Glad that they would be able to break the news to their brainy friend, Harry and Ron looked triumphantly at each other and said at once, "Pansy Parkinson!".
"I'm sorry?"
"Pansy Parkinson!" they repeated.
Hermione bit down on her lop at this. There was a total blank in her mind where she thought the logic should be for that statement. Glad she wasn't alone, she noticed Ginny squint at the boys with a frown. Pansy Parkinson wasn't on anybody's favorite's list after last year when she attempted to give Harry up to Death Eaters at school. In fact, Hermione hadn't even given her a passing thought since the girl was shuttled off to the dungeons for her stupid command that they "grab him". Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she breathed in and tried to decipher whatever nonsensical code the boys were trying to pull off.
"Just to be clear, you're excited because… Parkinson… was in the Indigo Inkwell? Is that right?"
Both boys nodded enthusiastically.
"She was getting supplies for school! She's going back to school Hermione! Your plan is working!" Ron exclaimed.
Hermione tipped her head at Ron with a wry smile.
"What plan?"
This caused both boys to become still with identical pouts.
"The plan! Where Malfoy goes back to school to influence and lead other Slytherins on our behalf? Well… surely Parkinson is only returning because he is, right? And we've seen Nott in Madam Malkin's. And the Greengrass sisters. They're both here." Ron explained.
"No sign of Malfoy himself though… that could be a problem… maybe we could owl him?"
Hermione stared, bug-eyed, at Harry's suggestion. Owl Malfoy? And tell him WHAT?!
"What exactly is it you guys plan on telling him Harry? To meet up with us so we can discuss his parole-treatment and the future of neo-fascists in Hogwarts?" Ginny asked.
Hermione stared at her longingly. She would need her this coming year and look at them now! This situation didn't call for Harry and Ron's brash tactics! It would call for subtlety and quiet reconnaissance. Leave it to the boys to just- go for it!
"Guys, I don't think notifying Malfoy of our intentions is the right thing to do here. The last thing we need is for him to see that we're attempting to manipulate him- I can't imagine that going over well. And besides, if he has changed even the smallest bit – "
"Tch"
"RONALD. If he has changed even the smallest bit, then it won't take much to persuade him in the right direction."
That said, Harry shrugged his shoulders looking put out. Unfortunately, there was nothing for him to do in this situation but sit back and not make things worse. If the Slytherins were gearing up for school, then perhaps they were coming with new agenda's. Otherwise, why bother?
"I just think it'd be best to wait this out and see where the beginning of the school year takes us, is all." Hermione finished.
Ginny stood up then and faced off with her brother and ex-boyfriend.
"Hermione's right. We don't know about the others or Malfoy yet. McGonagall may have made him Head Boy, but he hasn't begun his duties and we don't know if the Slytherins will try and force him to let them off easy. Before we go inviting him to tea, maybe we should see what he does with his new title?" she suggested.
Harry gave an affirmative nod and looked sheepishly toward Hermione.
"Yeah, I guess so… I just want to help. Hogwarts is my home, you know? I can't see it destroyed again, especially not at the hands of Malfoy or the other Slytherins."
"If he tries anything-"
"We know Ron. The hammer."
Ron smiled at this. Then looking around, he sighed.
"So, what were you two doing over here anyway? You don't even have any bags, Hermione. Didn't you want to get the extra books? You've only been talking about them all summer. Don't tell me you want to just relax this year?" he asked hopefully.
"Reading is relaxing Ronald." Hermione smiled.
She looked to Ginny to see the poor girl turning red again. Not knowing what else to do, she stood up and grasped Ron by the hand. He was surprised but didn't shake her off.
"Come on guys, we were just having a bit of girl talk, but I really do want those books. Shall we grab them before we get lunch? On Harry?" she winked.
Harry smiled good-naturedly and slung his arm around her free side. Ron's smile faltered a bit, though it held in the face of competition and the three began walking up the busy road back to the book shop. Stopping short, Ron looked back to the bench they'd just left.
"Where's Ginny? Didn't she want to come?" he asked.
Harry looked around for the young red-head, but finding no sign of her, he turned to Hermione.
"We didn't interrupt something, did we? Were you two needing space?"
Hermione hugged Harry around his middle for his thoughtfulness, then took Ron's hand back up.
"I think she's gone off to find your Mum, Ron. There was something she needed to ask about before the term begins."
The boys nodded as they walked along and chatted amiably about this and that. Hermione wondered if she should warn them about the, no doubt, intense dinner they would all be sharing come evening, or if she should just act like she had no idea about Ginny's news. The laughter of her two closest friends made that decision for her. She would let Ginny tell her own news in due time, and meanwhile, she would enjoy the last bit of summer fun she would have with the boys this year. Everything else could wait.
Ginny found her mother coming out of Madam Malkin's Robe shop. It must have been on Hermione's list as she'd outgrown many of her old clothes. Nervously, she wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt as she approached her mother with dread in her heart.
"H-hi Mum, would you like any help with those?" she asked, noting her mother's growing supply of knick-knacks.
Without waiting, she took several bags and an animal from her mother's grasp and smiled indulgently at the older woman's loving persona. She really hoped to be like this one day, with her own children… when she was married… and an adult. Hiccupping, Ginny was mortified to find her eyes and cheeks growing wet right there in the middle of the paved road with so many strangers walking around and her mother attempting to hang on to Ron's new pet lizard.
"Thank you, Ginny, I was nearly… Gin? Oh, Ginny dear! Come here, tell me what's wrong? Where is that brother of yours?" the Weasley matriarch asked in a growing panic.
She watched her only daughter break down in the middle of Diagon Alley while holding Hermione's new robes in one hand and her brother's lizard by the tail in her other. She could only ascertain that perhaps her sweet Ginny was overwhelmed by the coming school year and everything that took place to make it possible. She had been remarkably stoic about most of the aftereffects of the war when all the dust had settled. Perhaps she hadn't been alright after all?
"Come here Ginny, now you just tell me what the matter is dear, and we'll see to it together, hmm?" her mother supplied encouragingly.
Ginny latched onto her mother as best she could, crying harder into her bosom and ignoring the scratches from the bearded dragon she clutched.
"Oh, Mum! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't mean to!" she cried.
Molly Weasley hugged her baby girl to her and gave ugly looks to the nosy shoppers nearby. No one stopped to check on the poor crying girl, but several inched closer to try and listen in on what was being said. So, moving off to the side of the street, Molly ushered Ginny into an alcove where there was a relative difference in noise pollution and foot traffic.
"Oh goodness. Come now, Ginny dear. Tell me what's wrong? It couldn't be that bad now could it? After all, you've survived far worse than any other woman I've met, and you're still my beautiful girl, aren't you?" she smiled comfortingly as she stroked Ginny's hair and rocked her gently.
Ginny's cries began to lessen and die down as she took the comfort her mother offered and breathed slowly through her mouth. She didn't want to tell her. Didn't want it to be true. She just wanted to go back and redo things. Not flirt with that guy, not allow him to fondle her underneath her skirt, not tell him she was more experienced than she was, certainly not allow him to enter her unprotected. Wizards could cure a lot of things, but a baby wasn't one of them. They frowned on that more severely than they did single motherhood. And what could she say? That she didn't even know who the father was? That she could take care of the baby? She couldn't. She hadn't even finished school. And now, though she felt horrible for thinking it, she had effectively ended her family's Pureblood lineage as well. She was the shittiest daughter ever.
Her mother continued to whisper sweet words and stroke her hair even after her breathing returned to normal and she'd stopped crying. Anger overtook Ginny now. Anger at her actions, at her friends for not stopping her, and at the world in general. Fiercely, she looked up at her mother and stepped slightly away. She didn't deserve to be crying over this. They were her actions and if she was woman enough to get into this mess, she would be woman enough to take her lumps. Even if they did last for eighteen years. With a deep breath, Ginny blinked away the last vestiges of her tears and looked at her mother. Molly Weasley looked back at her girl and prepared herself to understand what she was going through.
"Mum, I've done something very foolish. It's my fault entirely, and I know you and Dad are going to be upset. Just please… don't be upset. Don't yell."
She hated it when her mother yelled. She hated it worse when her father yelled. He did it so very rarely she didn't even want to think about it. Looking away from her mother's pleading face now, she clenched her fists and gave a hiss as the lizard stuck her with his thorny talons. Shit, she'd forgotten she was holding the damned thing and placed him into the empty cage her mother had placed on the ground.
"I snuck out of the house a few months ago… with some friends from school. There was a party, and I … I …"
Growling, Ginny smacked herself on the head. Why couldn't she just say it?! Molly stepped forward and took Ginny by the elbow. Her eyebrows slanted down as she looked into her daughter's eyes.
"Just out with it Ginny. That's the best way." She said sternly.
Knowing her mother wouldn't wait much longer before going full maternal on her, she pressed her lips together and nodded quickly.
"Mum. I think I'm pregnant."
There. She had done it. She finally uttered aloud what she'd been agonizing over for weeks. All the signs were there. The weak stomach aches, the mild temperature, the missing cycle, the gas. It was all there. And now she was here. Molly hadn't said anything, just cocked her head to the side and looked at her daughter like she was some magical creature she'd never witnessed before. For a short while, neither of them spoke. Then Ginny decided to take the reins again.
"It was only one time, Mum. This boy and I… we only met the once. And I know how stupid that was. And I'm sorry. But I'm here now… and I need you, Mum. I don't know what to do." She said quietly as her eyes betrayed her once again.
She wiped furiously at her weeping orbs before her mother brought a hand up to her chest and sighed.
"Oh Ginny… why didn't you say anything? Have you even checked? Do you know how?"
Ginny didn't know how. She just knew. Though shaking her head in the negative caused her mother to whip out her wand and flourish it over her head. The swirling wand movements ended at her naval and a moment later, a blue glow emanated from her belly.
"What does that mean?" she asked, hoping it wasn't a boy. She'd hoped for a girl.
"It only means that you are, in fact, pregnant Ginny." Her mother said solemnly.
"Mum, I know you're upset, but I've at least made plans to try and find the father… because maybe he'd want to know, but he's a muggle so…"
"No worries dear, if worse come to pass, then your father an I will deal with the memory charm. And as for your father, best just to let me talk to him first."
Ginny stood a moment in wonder. She'd feared this day for the past two weeks. So much so, that she'd been sick several times and stayed away from family gatherings for the most part. Yet here, her mother seemed to be taking things all in stride. How did she do it?
"… Mum?"
"Yes dear?" her Mum replied distractedly.
She was clearly trying to find a way to manipulate her husband into being ok with this. After the fallout with Percy, nearly losing Fred in the Battle of Hogwarts, and Bill to lycanthropy, she'd be damned if she willingly pushed her only girl away for mothering new life.
"How are you being so calm about all of this? I can't imagine why you're not screaming at me…"
Molly looked down at Ginny in shock.
"Ginny! I'm you're mother. If anyone knows what it's really like to be young and with child, I assure you it is me. I don't think we ever talked about this, but your father and I were married because I'd fallen pregnant. And at a very young age myself. Now dear, you just hand those bags back here and let me deal with your father. Alright? Go and enjoy some time with your friends before school—"
"But Mum—"
"Ah! No buts. Now go!"
So, she went. And Molly stood in the alleyway collecting her thoughts about life before flicking her wand at the multitude of bags and supplies, shrinking them down to a simpler size and walking off in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.
As soon as the cost was clear, and all was quiet again, two figures stepped out of the shadows down that same alleyway near Nocturne. The identical grins on their faces promised mischief considering such great news! Oh, what a schoolyear this would be.
